Drivers to Nurturance: Application and Extension of FWB in India

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors influencing the choice of healthier foods in India through observation of 250 consumers in a feast arranged with most of the millet-based food items, followed by a focus group study of nine selected consumers from the feast. Although much of the work about healthier food choices have been done in the western countries, their replication is not possible for the Indian consumers due to the differences in perception, culture, and consumption patterns. This paper attempts to highlight the importance of indigenous culture of a land in influencing one’s food choice. The findings of the qualitative study match with the Food as Well Being (FWB) dimensions proposed by Block et al., 2011 Block, L. G., Grier, S. A., Childers, T. L., Davis, B., Ebert, J. E., Kumanyika, S., … &; Pettigrew, S. (2011). From nutrients to nurturance: A conceptual introduction to food well-being. Journal of Public Policy &; Marketing, 30(1), 5–13.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]. Food perception emerged as another important factor from this study and furthermore an extended model of FWB is proposed for the Indian consumers.     

Does CPI Granger-cause WPI? New extensions from frequency domain approach in Pakistan

The present study significantly contributes to the economic literature by investigating the direction of causality between WPI and CPI by applying frequency domain causality approach developed by Lemmens et al. (2008) based on spectral approach. We use monthly frequency data covering the period of 1961–2010 in case of Pakistan. Our results provide evidence of cointegration between the variables. Furthermore, we find unidirectional causal relationship running from CPI to WPI that varies across frequencies i.e., CPI Granger-causes WPI at lower, medium as well as higher level of frequencies reflecting long-run, medium and short-run cycles. This implies that CPI should be a leading indicator for important policy decisions pertaining to monetary or fiscal policies in Pakistan.     

The impact of the magnitude of service failure and complaint handling on satisfaction and brand credibility in the banking industry

The present research aims to investigate the effects of service failure and complaint handling on customer satisfaction with complaint handling which consequently impacts overall satisfaction and brand credibility. To examine the objectives of the present research, the authors deployed a sample of 384 respondents in Persian banks within Iran. Structural equation modeling has been used to analyze the data. The findings suggest that the magnitude of service failure negatively effects customer satisfaction with complaint handling. Complaint handling positively affects customer satisfaction with complaint handling. In addition, the results suggest that customer satisfaction with complaint handling positively influences brand credibility and overall satisfaction. Finally, overall satisfaction positively impacts brand credibility. The results revealed that if the complaint handling occurs instantly at the right time, it would have been a positive influence on customer satisfaction and ultimately develop brand credibility. Therefore, banks can adopt customer relationship management systems and processes which enable quick responses to customer complaints. Bank managers could find the results of the present study useful and beneficial in developing complaint handling efforts and expanding appropriate service recovery and brand credibility strategies.     

No-arbitrage under a class of honest times

This paper quantifies the interplay between the no-arbitrage notion of no unbounded profit with bounded risk (NUPBR) and additional progressive information generated by a random time. This study complements the one of Aksamit et al. (Finance Stoch. 21:1103–1139, 2017) in which the authors have studied similar topics for the model stopped at the random time, while here we deal with the question of what happens after the random time. Given that the existing literature proves that NUPBR is always violated after honest times that avoid stopping times in a continuous filtration, we propose here a new class of honest times for which NUPBR can be preserved for some models. For these honest times, we obtain two principal results. The first result characterizes the pairs of initial market and honest time for which the resulting model preserves NUPBR, while the second result characterizes honest times that do not affect NUPBR of any quasi-left-continuous model (i.e., in which the asset price process has no predictable jump times). Furthermore, we construct explicitly local martingale deflators for a large class of models.     

Mutual fund flows and investors’ expectations in BRICS economies: Implications for international diversification

This paper empirically examines the relationship between different classes of mutual funds, measures of investors’ expectations and business cycle movements in the BRICS markets over the 1996Q1-2017Q3 period. Applying the Panel Vector Autoregressive (PVAR) model in a Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) setting, the results suggest a strong causal relationship between mutual fund flows and measures of investors’ future expectations. In particular, fund flows are forward-looking and assist in forecasting real economic conditions. Moreover, investors choose to invest in riskier funds when economic conditions are good, while they prefer safer options in poor economic situations. These findings have important implications for international diversification.     

“New Normal” implications for global talent in the wake of economic nationalism and slowdown

As a result of global economies' protectionist policies, followed by economic nationalism and a downturn, there is a shortage of talent with the requisite skills, knowledge, and abilities to meet the contingencies amid COVID-19. The recent developments have necessitated multinational businesses to manage their talent in a new international business context. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of the “New Normal” for global talent which is manifested by economic nationalism and slowdown. This study used an inductive method to qualitative research, conducted in-depth interviews with 28 top executives from multinational corporations. The implications for the global talent emerged from the current study as skill enhancement based on the emerged business model; training and development pertinent to new responsibilities and activities; adaptability to changes in the macroenvironment; emphasis on employee proactivity, experimentation, and risk-taking; emphasis on hyperspecialization to take on contract positions; global talent needs to participate in remote learning; global talent must emphasize on mental health issues; and registering in talent exchange programs to fill talent skill shortages.     

The extent of resource use inefficiencies in cotton production in Pakistan's Punjab: an application of Data Envelopment Analysis

This paper attempts to identify sources of resource use inefficiency for cotton production in Pakistan's Punjab. The use of a non‐parametric method, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), is developed to study the relative technical and allocative efficiencies of individual farms which use similar inputs, produce the same product and operate under comparable circumstances. In the ‘cotton‐wheat’ system of Pakistan, there are a considerable number of farms that are both technically and allocatively inefficient. The use of DEA shows that the technique provides a clear identification of both the extent and the sources of technical and allocative inefficiencies in cotton production. However, both the interpretation of the farm level results generated and the projection of these results to a higher level require care, given the technical nature of the agricultural production processes.     

The role of time‐varying rare disaster risks in predicting bond returns and volatility

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence to the theoretical claim that rare disaster risks affect government bond market movements. Using a nonparametric quantiles‐based methodology, we show that rare disaster‐risks affect only volatility, but not returns, of 10‐year government bond of the United States over the monthly period of 1918:01 to 2013:12. In addition, the predictability of volatility holds for the majority of the conditional distribution of the volatility, with the exception of the extreme ends. Moreover, in general, similar results are also obtained for long‐term government bonds of an alternative developed country (UK) and an emerging market (South Africa).